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Student Achievement Shines at Landmark College Academic Awards

Posted: May 02 2013

Contact:
Jill Hart
802.387.7221

In a tribute to outstanding students of academic year 2012-2013, Landmark College held an inspirational academic awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Academically savvy students who have made exceptional achievements in a subject area are eligible for awards in mathematics, English, the sciences, and other liberal arts disciplines. Outwardly, the students earning awards are a diverse bunch—some are energetic and others reserved, with styles spanning athletic, artistic, practical, gothic, and hipster—but they share distinctive mastery of a college subject, often accompanied by creativity and leadership.

“At a college where students confront their learning challenges day in and day out, academic awards give us a chance to celebrate students who dive into the disciplines with energy and will,” explains Dr. Adrienne Major, Academic Dean. “These students show themselves, us and their peers what success looks like when one learns differently—what passion and using your difference as a strength can achieve.” Twenty-one students earned awards this year as beaming professors offered sincere praise and anecdotes of student growth and success in a room filled with family, friends and Landmark College community members.

Liberal Studies major Brandon Nogueira earned the commemorative “Dianne Wood Communications Department Award” after excelling in several courses in that department. “Brandon’s energy and creativity are awesome to be around,” said Eric Matte, faculty member, “I tell my students that every act of communication can make the world a better place—Brandon exudes that ideal. He makes the world a better place every time he interacts with another person.”

Receiving the Natural Sciences award was Rachel Yar Deng, a Life Sciences major known as “Yar” to friends and colleagues. “The entire Natural Science department agrees that Yar is curious, motivated, scholarly, analytical, attentive to detail, and willing to get messy,” Professor Abigail Littlefield said. “Yar shows enthusiasm for everything she does, she reaches out to those who are struggling, and she takes to lab work like a fish to water.”

Mr. Nogueira and Ms. Deng are two examples among a crowd of talented students who drew accolades for their work at the April 30th ceremony. Like Mr. Nogueira’s ability to “make the world a better place” with his affable, kind personality and Ms. Deng’s desire to help others, professors expressed student strengths that went beyond pure academic achievement. “This year's academic awards stood out because faculty emphasized students’ drive, passion and leadership—inside and outside the classroom,” said Dr. Major. “These students are inspirational not just to their peers, but also to us as their professors.”

Landmark College was the first institution of higher learning to pioneer college-level studies for students with dyslexia. Today Landmark College, offering two and four-year degree options, is a global leader in integrated teaching methods for students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and ASD. Students, faculty, and other professionals from all over the world are drawn to Landmark College for its innovative educational model, one designed through research and practice to help all students who learn differently become confident, self-empowered, and independently successful learners.